Melinda Gates says she and ex-husband Bill gave their kids a ‘middle-class’ upbringing
Billionaire Bill Gates’ ‘out of touch’ ex-wife Melinda has been slammed online over ‘delusional’ claims her children were raised middle-class.
Bill Gates former spouse Melinda has opened up about how she tried to give their children a “very middle-class” upbringing, to ensure that they were able to “cut their own path in life” without relying on their parents’ fortune to get by.
The 60-year-old shares three children with Microsoft billionaire; Jennifer, 28, Rory, 25, and Phoebe, 22 — all of whom were raised in an extraordinary $202m (US$130m) compound outside of Seattle, where their father still lives today.
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The one-of-a-kind dwelling is one of many that Melinda and Bill once owned together before divorcing in May 2021 and splitting their property portfolio down the middle.
Yet Melinda has now insisted that, despite the lavish estate where they were raised, the couple’s children were always taught to strive for their own goals — noting that she and Bill did not simply “buy them things” when they were growing up, but rather tried to encourage them to work for anything they really wanted.
“They had an allowance, so we absolutely did not just buy them things,” she recently told the New York Times.
“And they either had to buy with their allowance or put it on their wish list, that maybe they’d get it from their grandparents or us on their birthday or Christmas.”
Even with all the wealth and privilege the Gates family enjoys, Melinda said that she tried to instil the same kind of “middle-class” values that she was raised with, explaining: “I think it was much more of an upbringing like I grew up in: a very middle-class household where money did dictate whether I got an extra pair of shoes that year or not, right? And I thought that was a good principle to have.”
US residents were quick to call out Melinda’s comments as “out of touch” and “delusional”.
“She shouldn’t use the words ‘middle class’, she’s really out of touch with what that even means these days. Middle class people live paycheck to paycheck and have a hard time just making the mortgage,” Richard posted online.
“I like Melinda gates but she’s delusional if she thinks kids were raised middle class,” Lori posted online.
Still, while Melinda and Bill endeavoured to teach their children the value of a dollar, the Gates siblings still enjoyed plenty of perks that the average youngster could only ever dream of.
The first? Having the run of their father’s mega-mansion, known as “Xanadu 2.0” — in reference to a fictional compound featured in the movie “Citizen Kane.”
Located in the tiny Seattle suburb of Medina, which was also the longtime home of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos before he relocated to Florida, the property spans more than 6,130 sqm and contains many hi-tech amenities.
The Microsoft founder purchased the property in 1988 for just US$2m, proceding to pour a staggering US$63m into renovating it, turning the home into an modern oasis.
It now features seven bedrooms, six kitchens, 24 bathrooms, and six fireplaces. It also boasts a private library and a huge swimming pool that has its own underwater music system.
Other awe-inspiring amenities include a theatre room, sauna, private party space and reception area, steam room, separate men’s and women’s locker rooms, a trampoline room with 6.1m-high ceilings, and outdoor sports courts.
And in true tech-founder fashion, the property has its very own advanced security system that can detect who is in the residence by the weight of their footsteps thanks to the pressure-sensitive floors.
In addition to Xanadu 2.0, Bill and Melinda had a host of other homes across America, including several that they purchased for their daughter, Jennifer.
One of those homes is a $79m (US$51m) penthouse inside a ‘paparazzi-proof’ building in New York City, which they snapped up in January 2023, while Jennifer was completing med school in Manhattan.
They also gifted their oldest child a $24m (US$16m) horse farm shortly after she graduated from Stanford in 2018 — although, today that property is thought to be worth double that amount.
Before their marriage ended, Bill and Melinda also own a number of properties in California, including a beach house in Del Mar which they purchased for $67m (US$43m) in 2020; an equestrian ranch in Rancho Santa Fe and another property in Indian Wells. They also own a horse farm in Wellington, Florida.
Gates’ daughter, Jennifer, a talented equestrian, is also thought to be running the properties in Wellington and California as part of her Evergates Stables business.
However, the current ownership of the other homes within the Gates’ real estate portfolio has not been revealed.
Following the divorce, it was claimed that Melinda had walked away with “at least” US$12.5 billion, in addition to other assets like stocks and properties.
Speaking about the divorce in his interview with The Times, Gates confessed that the experience was “miserable” for both him and his ex-wife.
Although saying he is now feeling “cheerful,” Gates struggled to grapple with the loss of the relationship.
“The divorce thing was miserable for me and Melinda for at least two years,” he said, adding that he would put a public separation at the “top of his list” of his failures throughout life.
“That was the mistake I most regret,” he added.
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Originally published as Melinda Gates says she and ex-husband Bill gave their kids a ‘middle-class’ upbringing
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